Castle Rock: Habeas Corpus
July 29, 2018 1:21 PM - Season 1, Episode 2 - Subscribe

More is revealed via flashback about young Henry Deaver's January 1991 disappearance, as well as the long and cursed history of the town of Castle Rock; in the present day, Henry begins the investigation into the facts about Warden Lacy (Terry O'Quinn) and his nameless prisoner.
posted by Strange Interlude (8 comments total)
 
This one felt like a partial "re-pilot" of the first episode; the expository montage at the beginning feels like the creators partially restating the stakes of the show, making the importance of Castle Rock as a nexus of bad juju perhaps a bit clearer than in the previous episode.

I appreciate how the show is building the ensemble from the edges inward, with Jane Levy's character (Jackie Torrance? No relation to...?) being the most obvious addition post-pilot. A small-town mystery/horror show like this kind of needs to have an amateur local historian who can access some of the history of the setting in a way that doesn't necessarily involve sending the characters to the library in every episode.

I also didn't realize that I wanted Melanie Lynskey and Allison Tolman to play sisters in something until suddenly the show just handed it to me midway through this episode, which was nice. Going by their conversation, it sounds like Lynskey's character might have some kind of low-grade psychic gift (this being King, I assume it's the shine?) which could be interesting in relation to Levy's character if we see them interact at some point.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:58 PM on July 29, 2018 [4 favorites]


I'm torn on whether I'm missing things because I'm not the biggest King fan in the world or if I'm missing things because I keep falling asleep (naptime!) during the long quiet segments. I do enjoy the little bits they drop here and there though, and I think the story is going in interesting Kingian ways, I just worry that it's going to be 2 hours of plot spread out over ... uhh. imdb is down .... however many episodes they're planning on and it's just going to be a lot of TOQ's stories back to the glory days of Castle Rock filling in the remainder.
posted by Kyol at 9:40 AM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


Wikipedia says it's going to be 10 episodes, which seems about right for this story.

Assuming a standard three-act structure, we've already got roughly the first third of the story up on Hulu now; I'm thinking maybe another episode of figuring out WhoTF Skarsgard is and WhereTF he came from, and then 6 episodes of rising action/climax/denouement, which doesn't seem too unwieldy.

The pace feels appropriately novelistic with the same kind of weird detours that I've seen in what little King I've read, so I'm just enjoying the atmosphere and character performances rather than the actual A-to-B-to-C plotline per se.
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:54 AM on July 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I actually feel like this is going to be one of those shows that divides audiences. If you're looking for plot, plot, plot, this will probably be a miss for you. If you prefer character driven pieces (I really do), than this will probably be right up your alley. I too am loving the detours. It's so reminiscent of King.

The opening bit (continued from episode 1) raises some interesting questions about the nature of "the kid". Did he make Officer Zalewski see what he did? And why, given that Zalewski is the one person that has treated him with decency and tried to get him some help? Is this something the kid actively does or does he just passively affect those who come in contact with him?

The attitude of the town towards Henry is also really bizarre. To a man (or woman), they seem to regard him as a murderer, when in reality all they have evidence of is that he went missing, his father went looking for him and died. The fact that they assume that a) he ran away of his own volition rather than being kidnapped or lost and b) that he then had something to do with his father's death rather than it being just a tragic accident is frankly, really bizarre. It's also really bizarre to hold an 11 year old accountable for stuff like that, and I think the show has more than once implied that the racism of the town may account for that. Mrs. Lacy's "Are you black?" before she asked if he was Henry Deaver was telling. If the person on the phone just told her he was Henry, why ask if he's black? Wouldn't she already be aware of that? Even Alan treats Henry with suspicion and he should know better than anyone that in the Great North Woods, sometimes people get lost, and sometimes the people looking for them die. In fact, anyone who grew up in the rural northeast knows this.
posted by katyggls at 11:29 PM on July 30, 2018 [5 favorites]


I don't find the hostility towards Henry at all strange. I grew up in a small town in CT. Blaming a person is generally preferable to "shit happens." People, in general, prefer to think there was a specific cause to a tragedy that could make it preventable.This was definitely true of where I grew up, which was a very foresty area.

As for why the kid would go for Zalewski. If the kid is evil, exploiting anyone open to him, like Zalewski makes sense. Evil doesn't always follow an ethical code. Although we don't know if he's evil right now. I'm just saying he could be and could be using Zalewski for a yet undetermined purpose.
posted by miss-lapin at 1:04 PM on August 5, 2018


Oh just a side note for non-King fans-the newspaper clippings reference Needful Things and Cujo.
posted by miss-lapin at 1:06 PM on August 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


It's a little bit meta, but I love any production that shows a love of the source material by getting little inconsequential details right - and I'll admit I don't mind fanservice when it's not too blatant.

Little details I love so far:
  • The Mellow Tiger's bowling lanes are New England-appropriate candlepin, not ten pin.
  • I spotted a Moxie sign on the wall in there too
  • I also spotted somebody drinking an Allagash beer.
In one scene (I think it was this episode, don't remember for sure but it's not a spoiler) there's a quick shot centered on a framed photo of Terry O'Quinn as Warden Lacy. Just to the left of it, nearly out of frame was a photo of Bob Gunton as Warden Norton. I spent most of the first episode saying to myself, "Wow, the music really seems like an homage to Thomas Newman's score for The Shawshank Redemption," so I was delighted to see his name in the end credits.
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 6:34 AM on August 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


quick shot centered on a framed photo of Terry O'Quinn as Warden Lacy. Just to the left of it, nearly out of frame was a photo of Bob Gunton as Warden Norton.

It is in the third episode, when The Kid stares at the photo of Lacy on the wall.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:01 PM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]


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